With one last overflow crowd, Doc pulls the plug on the Little Gem

Gloria Wright / The Post-StandardDoc Good waves good-bye as Doc's Little Gem Diner, 832 Spencer St., closed its doors and went out of business Wednesday night.

Syracuse, NY -- The last supper was served at Doc’s Little Gem Wednesday night.

The West Side diner was jammed as the 10 p.m. closing neared at the restaurant that was once known for never closing. Even in recent months, when hours were cut, “Open 24 hours” still glowed in neon out front.

“It’s all over with, no ifs, and or buts, unless someone can come up with what I needed two years ago to put on the expansion,” owner Francis “Doc” Good said. “It’s all about expansion and being viable and keeping the books right.”

Good, who has owned the ’50s-era diner for 12½years, said he told his 16 employees two weeks ago that he would be closing the business.

Good spoke about the possibility of closing a year ago, after he filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection. Under Chapter 13, a debtor arranges to repay debt.

For-sale signs appeared in front of the 832 Spencer St. restaurant about a month ago. Good was asking $399,000. The restaurant will remain intact and still is for sale, he said.

Old timers came Wednesday, some too choked up to speak about what the closing of the old stainless-steel diner meant to them. Stylishly dressed young women were there too.

Fiona Murray said she was a regular all last summer when she worked on a political campaign in Syracuse. She ordered her favorite, grilled cheese.

Good worked the diner, moving from table to table with coffee pots. People leaving shook his hand, hugged their waitress and offered encouraging words.

Good sat with Jerry Prosonic, of Syracuse. The two had worked together in Turkey in the 1960s. Prosonic remembered bringing his sons to The Little Gem. Son Mike was with him Wednesday.

Mike recalled late nights when the diner would be the after-hours place.

The cooks and dishwashers got called out of the kitchen for a round of applause after the last meal had been served at 10:32 p.m.

"Thank you everybody for coming," Good said. "God bless."

"Thanks Doc," several diners called back.

“Can we smoke now?” someone asked a short while later.

“Yeah, you can smoke,” Good said. In a moment, the diner filled with the smell of cigarettes, something missing from the place since the state banned smoking in restaurants in 2003.

Peggy Valenson, of North Syracuse, had been a waitress at the Little Gem for years. She wasn’t working Wednesday, but she efficiently placed ashtrays at each table. “Doc is the best boss you can ever have,” she said.

Good has blamed the closing on his inability to get funding for the expansion and the state’s smoking ban.

He said he had to turn away business on weekends because the restaurant was too small. Unable to expand, he said, he had too few seats to offer on the weekends when the demand was highest. If he could have added on, he said, he would have gone for his liquor license and tried to open a sports bar there to keep traffic up.

The recession was a factor too, he said.

Good, 76, said he can’t afford to retire. “I’ve not looked at the help-wanteds yet, but I’ll start looking Sunday,” he said.

Dishwasher Carol Hess, of Syracuse, has been at the Little Gem longer than Good. She started working there 26 years ago, when it was Mario's Little Gem. She's not sure what she is going to do next.